The Materia
Medica of the Nosodes.By Henry Clay ALLEN, M. D.
Presented and arranged by Dr Robert Séror.

ANTHRACINUM.

(Anthrax Poison).

The alcoholic extract of the anthrax poison prepared from the
spleen of cattle ill with the disease.

A nosode rejected by the old school, and by a majority of the new,
in spite of its being a remedy which bears out our theory, and one
which has proved of the utmost use in practice. It has not yet been
proved, but the frequent use made of it and the verification of the
toxic symptoms by some of our best practitioners justifies its
reception.

The first preparation was made according to

Hering's
propositions (laid
down in Stapf's Archives, 1830),
by Dr. G. A. Weber, and applied with the most astonishing success in
the cattle plague. He cured every case with it, and also cured men
poisoned by the contagium.

His report, a small treatise of

114
pages, was published in 1836,
by Reclam, Leipzig. No notice was taken of it.

Only the talented Dr. P. Dufresne, the founder of the

Bibliothèque
Homoeopathique, of
Geneva, used it and prevented the further murderous spread of the
disease, in a flock of sheep (among
which it is always more fatal than among other domestic animals),
and cured the shepherds as well (Biblioth.
Homoeop. de Genève, January and February, 1837).

The discovery of the bacteria and their incredibly rapid
propagation, seemed to be of much more importance than the cure of
cattle, and the loss of millions of dollars by this disease.

In

1842
France sustained a loss of over seven millions of francs, and every
year a small district of Germany had a loss of sixty thousand thalers,
from the cattle plague ;
in Siberia, in 1785,
100,000
horses died with it ;
in 1800,
one small district lost 27,000
horses. Radiate heat, proposed scores of years ago, for other zymotic
diseases, by Hering,
was discovered, in a very ingenious way, by Pasteur,
to prevent the increase of bacteria. Now the heat (as
it has done in hydrophobia),
and the nosode may suffice to cure every case.

Doctor Käsemann had moral courage enough to introduce anthracin in
gangrene and sphacelus, in

1852,
and Doctor Raue
has given it in carbuncles, since 1858(see
his Pathology and Diagnosis)
and in gangrenic whitlow (see
Journal of
Clinics, 4, 142).

All symptoms produced by the poison on men are inserted, because
the symptoms from the snake-bite and from the bee sting have been
proved to be useful in numerous cases as well as the toxic symptoms of
Arsenic, Opium and other drugs.

Dr.

Hering
says :
" Homeopathic practitioners of the greatest integrity, and
trustworthy beyond a doubt, long ago cured splenic fever in cattle,
flocks of sheep and their shepherds by Anthracin, an alcoholic
tincture made from the blood of a bacteric spleen. Of course the
alcohol killed the infusoria, but what remained dissolved therein
cured the disease in animals and men." This proves conclusively :

1

. That the
crude poison and its alcoholic solution must possess similar
pathogenetic properties ;
hence to a proving of Anthracinum must be added all the symptoms of
uncomplicated splenic fever ;
to those of Hydrophobinum, the symptoms of every case of pure
hydrophobia ;
to those of Syphilinum all those of pure syphilis, etc., etc.

2

. That bacteria
are not the cause but the effect of the disease, a doctrine which we
hold to be true with regard to all parasites connected with deranged
health, and that therefore their destruction by local application is
not equivalent to the cure of the disease itself.

Characteristics.- (Anthracinum)

In carbuncle, malignant ulcer and complaints with

ulceration,
sloughing and intolerable burning.

Painful glandular swellings

;
cellular tissue indurated ;
anthrax, quinsy.

When Arsenicum or the best selected remedy fails to relieve the
burning pain of carbuncle or malignant ulceration, study Anthracinum.

Small swellings on temples and cheeks, extending through the
orbital sutures and foramina to the dura and pia mater.

Eyes And Sight.- (Anthracinum)

II

A pale
yellowish or greenish swelling, if in the eyelids, of a
half-translucent aspect.

II

Great
dilatation of pupils ;
inner anthrax.

I

A pale redness
above the brows along the forehead.

Ears And Hearing.- (Anthracinum)

II

Ringing in
the ears ;
inner anthrax.

I

Swelling
extending backward over the angle of the r. lower jaw, which could not
be felt and up to near the ear.

Parotitis gangrenosa, after scarlatina.

Nose And Smell.- (Anthracinum)

II

Bloody
suffusions on mucous membrane of nose.

I

Intense
redness of the r. half of nose, extending to the cheek.

Nose swollen and red, fetid smell from it.

Face.- (Anthracinum)

I

A large stony,
hard, pale swelling around the r. lower jaw, nearly painless,
disfiguring the face.

I

A stony
swelling around the r. lower maxilla, the inner space of the mandibula
filling up to half, reaches to nearly half the cheek, and disfiguring
the face, extending backwards over the angle of the lower jaw ;
very little pain, not red, but sharply defined edges.

I

Beginning of
swelling was in the region of the r. submaxillary gland.

I

Could not move
the lower jaw as usual.

I

Could open the
mouth only so far as to put the point of the tongue out.

I

Erysipelatous,
dark brown redness and swelling over the whole right side of face, the
nose and part of l. cheek ;
swelling very hard, redness does not disappear under the pressure of
finger.

I

Extending to
cheek, redness from nose.

I

Gland under
the chin painfully swollen.

I

Impossible to
open the jaws in the least.

I

Swelling
extending from the inner edge of the left lower jaw across the whole
throat, in front and over the edge of the r. lower jaw, and au
niveau with the
upper surface of the r. lower molars.

I

Tearing in the
right lower jaw.

Teeth And Gums.- (Anthracinum)

I

On making an
incision near second molar a mass of stinking, brown ichor is
discharged.

Taste, Tongue.- (Anthracinum)

II

Tongue often
furred, with a thick brown coat ;
dry.

I

Flabby taste.

Mouth.- (Anthracinum)

II

Bloody
suffusions and hemorrhagic collections on the mucous membranes of
canthi of mouth and nose ;
inner anthrax.

II

Continued
bleeding from the mouth ;
the blood shows a lack of power to coagulate ;
with inner anthrax.

II

Dark red,
bloody ecchymoses of mouth.

II

Superficially
escharred pustules in mouth after death.

I

Fundus of
mouth is elevated by the swelling, as hard as a callus, extending back
to the parotids, and reaching up to the external surface of the lower
jaw.

I

Offensive odor
from mouth. Mouth could not be opened.

I

Saliva
increased.

Throat.- (Anthracinum)

II

Slight
difficulty in swallowing ;
inner anthrax.

II

The submucous
tissue, especially in fauces and around the larynx, is thickened and
oedematous.

I

Could not
swallow, with great thirst.

I

Cynanche
cellularis ;
a sharply-marked margin about the swellings.

I

Region of the
throat above the larynx to the mouth swollen.

I

Right tonsil
hurts.

I

Swallowing
exceedingly difficult.

Anthrax-quinsy.

Submaxillary, laryngeal, and retro-pharyngeal glands are
infiltrated, hyperaemic, filled with hemorrhagic foci, colored of a
grayish or dark blackish-red, and considerably enlarged.

Appetite.- (Anthracinum)

III

Loss of
appetite, prominent in every patient.

II

Loss of
appetite and gastralgia ;
inner anthrax.

II

Loss of
appetite, with chills.

I

Excessive
thirst, but can hardly swallow.

I

Symptoms from
putrid water.

Diminished appetite, with heat.

Eating and drinking.

Thirst with heat.

Stomach.- (Anthracinum)

II

Gastralgia.

II

Mucous
membrane of stomach and intestines reddish, swollen, with isolated or
numerous oedematous, hemorrhagic prominent infiltrations, from size of
a lentil to that of a coffee bean, showing a grayish or
greenish-yellow discolored surface, with a positively sloughing
centre.

Serous and
sero-hemorrhagic infiltrations of the peritoneal and mesenteric
connective tissue, walls of stomach and intestine, and of the mucous
membranes.

II

Simple
hemorrhages, infarctions and foci on different parts of intestines.

II

Swelling of
the abdomen ;
inner anthrax.

II

The
retro-peritoneal and mesenteric connective tissue infiltrated,
jelly-like, and of a yellowish-reddish color.

II

The same
disease in sheep. Anthracinum
suum is better
than Anthracinum
ovium in the
acute form, but in the chronic form Anthracinum
ovium is
better.

I

Sensation as
if the diaphragm was pushed forward.

I

Sensation of
anxiety and constriction, most in the praecordia, liver engorged,
slight hemorrhage here and there, spleen moderately enlarged, soft,
full of blood, dark color.

A horse fell down with colic, no motion except now and then bending
the head towards the abdomen.

Dark red carbuncle in the omentum.

Preceded or followed with Arsenicum, Carbolic ac. or Euphorbium as
called for by the symptoms.

Sudden prostration with great abdominal soreness, mostly in the
epigastrium with vomiting, cold limbs, dull head.

Rectum And Stool.- (Anthracinum)

II

Diarrhoea.

II

Vomiting
followed by a painless, moderate, more or less intense, often bloody
diarrhoea ;
inner anthrax.

II

With the
diarrhoea sometimes a cholera-like collapse ;
inner anthrax.

Diarrhoea with bellyache.

Retarded stool.

Vomiting, followed by a painless, often bloody, diarrhoea.

Urinary Organs.- (Anthracinum)

II

Kidneys
swollen, with oedema, sprinkled with small hemorrhages, engorged ;
suggilations in mucous membranes of the pelvis.

Respiration.- (Anthracinum)

II

Breathing
frequent, laborious ;
quick, spasmodic ;
inner anthrax.

Lungs.- (Anthracinum)

II

Oedema of the
mediastinal lymphatic glands.

II

Slight serous
effusions into pleural cavities.

II

Sub-pleural
ecchymoses with vascular engorgement, and a dark coloring of the
parenchyma.

Pulmonary hyperaemia, ecchymoses.

Heart, Pulse And Circulation.- (Anthracinum)

II

Blood not
coagulating.

II

Blood of a
dark cherry red, generally fluid or with some loose clots.

II

Cyanosis ;
inner anthrax.

II

Discolored
lines over the veins, or red lines and stripes in the course of the
lymphatics.

II

The beating
of the heart stronger, more decided and more perceptible.

Heart-beat frequent but weak.

Her heart beats altogether different.

Pulse frequent, small, with violent action of the heart

;
soft ;I
small and feverish.

Soft, scarcely frequent pulse.

Neck And Back.- (Anthracinum)

II

Carbuncle on
the back, nine inches in length and five inches in its greatest width ;
with sloughing, abundant discharge of ichorous, terrible smelling pus,
and blood-poisoning by absorption of pus.

Axillary glands swollen and painful.

Hydro-rachitis

(Grubbe,
Kreuzdrehe),
a disease of sheep.

Swelling in the neck-size of hazelnut, burning and fiery red

;
is pointed and hard.

Upper Limbs.- (Anthracinum)

II

Felon, the
worst cases, with sloughing ;
severe torturing pain and great prostration.

I

Arms and hands
covered with a crusty eruption, full of cracks, discharging pus and an
acrid fluid, with painful, unbearable itching ;
checked for a while by the Old School, it had burst out again with
terrible fury.

I

On the middle
of the palm of the hand a large blister, which, when opened,
discharged a yellow watery fluid.

I

The whole left
hand (not
the fingers)
swollen, highly reddened, very painful ;
the redness extended over the whole hand and even the wrist, and a red
streak ran up the forearm.

I

Whitlow.

After Anthracine, the crusts pealed off and were flying about like
snow.

Tetanic spasms of upper limbs

;
inner anthrax.

Lower Limbs.- (Anthracinum)

II

Severe pains
in limbs and joints with the fever ;
intestinal anthrax.

I

Above the
knee, redness, swelling and pain, and later a large black blister on
inside of thigh, extending four inches upward and inward ;
after being lanced bloody water ran out.

I

Bluish-brown
spots which break open.

I

Foot
oedematous.

I

From the
openings on lower leg, caused by the fracture, a copious stinking pus (like
carious bones).

I

On outside of
knee a large fluctuating swelling, by pressure discharging a horribly
smelling gangrenous ichor.

A little red
speck, like a flea-bite, with a central black point, swells gradually
and changes into an itching papule, capped with a small, clear,
reddish or bluish vesicle, gradually enlarging.

II

Anthrax
pustules most on face, forearms, hands, fingers, neck, less often the
ear, still less frequent the covered parts.

II

Black
blisters, fatal in twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

II

Carbuncle
darkish red, greasy, and is often more eroded than ulcerated.

II

Carbuncle on
arm, forearm, head. See chill.

II

In case of
more than one detritus, the whole is swollen like erysipelas, and when
cut it looks like the Vespajas
of the Italian
dermatologists.

II

Large
cutaneous eschars.

II

Little
carbuncles ;
inner anthrax.

II

Papules and
pustules, with extensive oedematous and phlegmonous infiltration of
the neighboring skin and subcutaneous tissue.

II

Small and
large epidermal vesicles filled with serum.

II

The anthrax
pustule penetrates deeply into the subcutaneous cellular tissue.

II

The dense or
doughy soft papules or pustules, around and beneath the eschar, vary
in size from a pea to a nut.

II

The
excoriated spot dries up, becomes brown and livid and a local eschar
forms.

II

The papule
promptly bursts and discloses a dark red base.

II

The secondary
vesicles contain a yellowish, reddish and blackish fluid.

II

With an
increase of the round thick eschar, one-fourth to three-fourths of an
inch, the raised border also extends.

I

After having
taken homoeopathic medicine for malignant ulcers, suddenly the
greatest malaise, and a black blister formed below the knee with
swelling all around, and feverish shaking chill through the whole
body.

I

All openings
run into one, discharge much pus.

I

Black or blue
blisters.

I

Blister on
palm of hand.

I

Carbuncle.

I

Chronic forms
of anthrax with indurations like knots under the skin.

I

Crusty
eruption discharging acrid fluid.

I

Crusty oozing
eruption, with the most violent itching.

I

Erysipelas
gangrenosa.

I

Erysipelatous
form of chronic anthrax.

I

Erysipelatous
inflammation about the carbuncle.

I

Itching with
dry skin ;
violent as if mad (horses).

I

Large black
blister on inside of thigh.

I

Most malignant
gangrenous ulcers (sheep).

I

Seventh day
after the remedy several larger and smaller openings, discharging
watery, sometimes bloody matter, very little pus ;
swelling less hard around the base.

I

Skin dry,
itching violently and burning.

I

Small-pox of
sheep.

I

Ulcus excedens
(sheep).

I

Unbearable
itching on arms and hands.

A small red spot, sometimes with a blackish point in the middle,
gradually becoming more sensitive, has to scratch, it reddens more and
more, swells and forms a small pustule or blotch.

Anthrax carbuncles, with typhoid symptoms.

Anthrax contagiosus.

By inflammatory swelling of the surrounding skin a red or violet
raised border is formed, around it a bluish or pale yellow ring, upon
which little vesicles, size of a hemp seed, appear surrounding the
central eschar.

Circumscribed carbuncle, hard large knots.

Cyanosis.

Dark-red spots

(sheep).

Diffuse, erysipelatous carbuncle.

Ecchymoses.

Excoriated surface dries and mummifies, but new blisters form all
around.

If scraped off soon the excoriated spot dries, turns brown and
livid and leaves a scar.

Over the pustule a blister, size of a lentil, with a clear, bright
yellowish, later a reddish or bluish fluid.

Skin of the affected part either hard or doughy.

Sometimes blisters looking more like furuncles

;
a pus-like collection under the epidermis, which loosens and discloses
decomposed matter.

Umbilicated pustules, yellow or bluish around, with the depression
of a dark red hue, and hemorrhagic foundation.